Reximex Zone 22cal

[Racing]

Yeah. So it finally came full circle, i caved in and got me a Zone too.
Uhu. Own a Throne Gen 2 and a really really nice and well performing Daystar since previous..
But me and my local vendor got talking, one thing led to another and here we are.



If i´m correctly informed Reximex... i know they´re imported into Canada but it has been the hot agenda when the US is to follow.. why these posts of mine will hopefully be of use to some at least.

So what is the Zone then? Seeing the hype surrounding its cousin the Throne Gen 2.
I´ll do a short and sweet checksum on that, it´s in essence a modern take on the Artemis/Snowpeak P-15. With a twist.
Now, it just so happens that i own a P-15 too and truly enjoy shooting the thing. The Artemis gun though being shorter and lighter still. Especially the latter as the P-15 weighs of nothing.
This one is no lump either, but i´d say along the lines of 3,5kg at least (where the P-15 is 2kg+)

As my vendor was as curious as I as far as how this thing is put together.. down the rabbit hole.



Ok. So it being a sidelever is nowadays a downright must to me, and the Zone certainly is. What´s more it sports a regulator stock, just way simpler to the install than on the Throne and similar guns with reg adjustment from the outside.
The Zone is SORTS of built on the older ideas.. However Reximex made them such that the entire tube/tank assy comes out as one part, it´s just that it´s in essence three parts bolted together.

So first up the valve assy. Nothing new there.. then the piece sporting the regulator and the plenum for it and finally the reservoir in itself.
The pieces go together buttery smooth.. So as i regard it the only real "drawback" to it is that the gun needs to be degassed to have regulator pressure adjusted and as i run a compressor and several scubas.. not an issue. To me.
For those that insist on using a hand pump tho = murder i´d say.

In that picture there, notice the insanely long spindle for the poppet. Why setup such you say?
Well.
it works like this that the hammer bore is off axis vs the pocket for the valve. Thus the poppet pin isn´t only supported by the valve housing but by the main block as well. This also means that as the hammer comes rushing it does NOT hit the pin dead center but rather off center..
I guess they opted to do it this way for a more compact setup on a whole.

The thing comes with a rather sturdy plastic carrying case, just.. as moronic as always.. one that won´t fit as you install any appreciable scope on there.

So. Out of the box the thing was adjusted to a mere 120 bar. As i´ve touched upon before the industry is really moving in one direction.. better and better accuracy and more and more power.
As a regulated 22cal gun it´s setup on a mere 4,5mm transfer ports and that sure won´t amount to a powerhouse any day soon seeing them 120 bar.

Hammer spring tension in turn is as adjustable as they come it´s just that.. the spring is so meek you won´t believe..

Adjusting reg pressure, the resolution of it, is about on par with most other similar regulators like Huma, Altaros and what not. In short you do not turn that screw X number of revolutions but more so.. like a quarter of a turn is LOADS.



There´s a kicker to this though. The poppet return spring is by FAR the most heavy duty so i´ve run into! MASSIVE!
But. As it turns out it´s a dead ringer for the hammer spring so.. trade places and you´ve got yourself an entirely different ballgame!

That said however.. ports on 4,5mm right. So. I upped reg pressure to approx 140 and let her rip with the hammer spring adjusted as far in as it´d go using 25,4´s.
Nah. Not really. What the chrono told was approx 750fps. Duh!



Yeah. You guessed it. Came out slow out of the hole though and settled for a mere 5,5mm. Which of course is a rather substantial difference in area. Notice how deep that exhaust port is for the thing in turn. Yep. Porting comes to mind here, and be adviced that that there 90deg turn spells death to flow.. So yes, porting does help. In some instances loads even..
Be that as it may though.. this is a budget offering from Reximex. One of their cheaper guns, but truth be told.. Hm.
As many of you are aware i in that wasps nest of "midrange hangtag guns" find both Kral and Reximex great value, and this Zone is certainly no exception.
It´s strikes me as well made.. through out, with a few exceptions.

Like.. the same moronic idea of keeping a piece of picatinny rail in place via ONE anchor bolt. HELLO!!
So yep. Same solution as i pulled for the Daystar of mine.

Pulled that last job last night before heading home from the shop.
At first, hammer spring as far as it´d go. Stock 4,5mm ports, 140 bar = 750fps using 25,4 grain JSBs.
Now..
Stiffer hammer spring but NOT adjusted anywhere close to the limit, 5,5mm ports and approx 160 bar = shy of 900fps.
So sure. That´s quite a jump but see.. in my book this thing should hand me inxs of 1000 at 180 and i beg to differ cause i have a REAL hard time seeing that becoming reality where we´re at.



Poppet? Yeah, poppet. Works on a 3mm spindle and then a piece of what seems to be PEEK works as the "seating piece" vs the valve seat on the valve body.
The through hole beneath the poppet is on a full 7mm already stock but.. weird.
Huh?
Yeah cause just ahead of the poppet.. return spring right and this thing needs a retainer the other end. So for some reason that piece, on the aluminium body, sports a mere 5mm through hole? Like.. what´s going on there?

The actual seat in turn is a´la the Kral guns. In essence a 90deg jobbie that sports like a thin ridge around the circumferance of the valve seat to increase unit loading.
However..
The through hole on 7mm right and that ridge.. The poppet outer though is at a full 10mm for some reason? Cut that back to 8,5mm for starters knowing all to well what´s at hand here.

So yes. Need to dig a little deeper on this one and what will be absolutely imperative is, as for the Throne as power climbs, more plenum volume.
It is a simple fact that for a regulated gun plenum volume is needed along the lines of 10cc´s for every 10fpe approx as you start opening them up, and in this case we´re nowhere NEAR that.
Seeing how the tank/tube assy is that much shorter than the barrel/moderator setup though.. room for growth right there.

On the barrel in turn. Took the measure out and got approx 480mm. In short that thing ends WAY shorter than it looks, and that last bit of what LOOKS like a shroud is as per the old P-15 a moderator.
Baffles inside though this time out of what seems printed plastic and what´s more with WAY closer tolerances than on a P-15.
My only complaint, having noodled around on this a bit, is the through holes on the baffles. I presume they use the same baffles no matter the caliber, and it shows.
So going to look into that i believe, but that said at least where i´m at current this thing is still backyard friendly i´d say.
However.
For some reason that shroud is not. As in,there´s no diffusor the front of the barrel. Just a piece of steel that sports an o-ring to center the shroud on the barrel. No ports leading rearwards what so ever...
So think i´ll dwell on that a bit and modify that to becoming a working shroud.

Now. I get that Reximex cheaper offering can´t very well outrun the Throne, both being bullpups. Of course. That said though the Zone shows great promise as a platform, on a cheaper basis.
For instance.
On the Zone we per usual see the "power adjuster" so typical to all Kral and Reximex guns just in this case the thing is made on a 8mm bore, leaving that opening the port up from them 4,5mm to 5,5mm is doable right there and then using a simple drillbit.

Btw. In drilling the port out to a full 5,5mm i did so from the top. Then inserted the "power adjuster" and drilled that using the now existing hole as a guide.
Stock the barrel is held in place by a pair of M5 allen stoppies... and i took the lazy route here and just tapped that 5,5mm hole M6.
Yep. NOT entirely correct, but seeing the rather limited loading of that there screw.. whatever. It works as long as you´re aware of the limitations.

Would a Zone benefit from the longer 585mm barrel for the Throne and Daystar in turn? Most certainly.

First up though is getting this thing to haul with the parts on there from the start.

Got a few more pics to show, just for some reason Pixlr which i use to resize them has put a limit of two pics per day or the likes..
Whatever. I´ll get back to you on this Reximex Zone due time.

Oh! Before i forget! For some reason the Zone is imported up here with the synthetic stock and 22cal only. I by no means fret the 22cal however i´d MUCH rather have the walnut offering for stock option.
As things have progressed then i´ve come to learn a new friend who just so happens is into PCP´s and live down in Turkey.. So an order for one walnut stock for a Zone coming up!

[Racing]

Yet another one before i forget.
On these "Mickey Mouse" onboard gauges... It just tires me right...

I carry a calibrated such on my one scuba why i thought i´d just reference the one for fill pressure on the gun.
Well duh!
When that one showed 250 bar, which is max fill, true pressure was around 200-210. In other words 40 bar short. Not the end of the world for fill pressure on a regulated gun BUT it is an issue for the reg pressure gauge IF that is just as off.
So due that i´m going to trade places on them two cause.. i wanna know what i´m dealing with here.

Worth of notice at least me thinks.

[Racing]

So. It´s been my findings that the Reximex guns of early are often less than satisfactory bolted together. That there pin is on the hammer, and the counterpart on the loading lever. On the "others" this has been downright loose..
Not so on this Zone. Thus far the ones that are critical have even been on there incl "never come off juice". Ie; Loctite, in this case blue.
So what i´m gathering here is that Reximex is a relatively new brand, one intended as an upscale Kral offering if my info is correct, and as such.. growing pains.? I guess.
No matter, having had this entire gun apart by now, down to it´s last bolt, it´s all "been there" and as such i have no complaints.
None.



Yeah, ok. The trigger unit. That part there sticking up into mid air is where the "throttle linkage" runs through. But.. keep that thought..



Turning the adjuster on the regulator counter clockwise indeed raises reg pressure. The one thing keeping that bracketry which is the picatinny rail, the trigger, shroud rear end cap and what not in place.. it´s built into that bracket via a clamp at the front of it.
That clamp is what keeps it all where it should, and the force acting on it is the air leaving through the stock moderator.
Well, i didn´t.
So the thing went forward, breaking in two where it´s at its finest so to say. Idiot.. i know... Then the crows come flying "that´s cast really bad Q aluminium, can´t be welded" yadda yadda yadda...
Whatever. Yes. I do weld aluminium too.
Issue is that it broke off that "into mid air" thingy of the trigger group too..



So opted for steel this time out. Here the new trunion for it.

Gun is up and running, stronger than ever. As noted both them Mickey Mouse gauges are off, and that by quite a margin, so i compensated for that.
Where we´re at she´s shooting on par i´d say. Using 25,4´s she´s on target well enough and that at a rate of approx 900+ish at 170.
Raising to 190, we´re there. Other side of 1000fps.

What that basically tells is that it´s plenum time. For better for worse, and it is what it is. We know from previous what increased plenum volume brings and most likely this puff will be no different.



Silent is good. We like silent. As i write above the stock shroud isn´t a shroud at all. In there resides a moderator, but the shroud portion of it.. not so much.
So first thing up i did was to try a diffusor for an FX Impact, had a spare laying around, and it works just golden! In short an Impact diffusor bolted to the approx 480mm long barrel hands us a shroud - as our creator intended it. Kewl!
Then for these baffles.
I took a rather long, hard, good look at it and figured that small means would bring a large turnaround.
Huh?
Yeah. I drilled holes into the "unused" portion of each baffle in a criss cross. Thus handing volume of the moderator portion otherwise not used.



Then wrapped each baffle with regular kitchen rage, per always i was just about to say..
Difference is staggering.

Now.
I figured as much that the "correct" way to increase plenum volume is to simply add yet another section of plenum, where the regulator resides stock. Yet such an aluminium piece would hand approx 45cc´s as is, and that can in turn sure be bettered on the lathe.
Issue here is down in Turkey they´ve had these little earthquakes.. and the country is in a state upside down, god knows for how long.
Shooting friend down there reports that it´s WAY WAY WAY worse than is relayed on the news. Entire cities are missing, and i´ll be.. not far from it the Reximex factory. Which still stands though.
Anywhoos..
That brings that i believe i´ll toss a piece of steel tubing on 35mm on the lathe and cut one myself, for now. The "room" for growth, before it´ll end up being longer than the shroud, is 75mm.
The stock plenum is all in at 60.. But i believe i´ll make mine 75.

Thread is a funky one, again, and in all honesty i won´t care. On the lathe it´s just a matter of thread pitch and thread angle..
Measures in at 31,3mm outer and a 1mm pitch. So.. here we go i guess.

[Racing]

Went a little different route after all.



...still evaluating the effects of it.

[Racing]

Right. A first, careful, summary.

Sending regular 22cal 25,4´s downrange.. nothing all that much as far as revelation. Not really. Saw like around the 70J mark.
That got me to replace for 33,9 grain pellets and.. voila. 85+J in a heartbeat.
Nothing changed but pill weight, go figure!

Hm.
Then all hell broke loose i guess cause it dawned on me i have a 585mm barrel for my Throne. Not a perfect fit but a 2 min trip on the lathe fixed that.
Put that in place, figuring out needed seals and what have you. Filled her up to 250 again, reg pressure at this point around the 170+bar mark.

1005fps using 33.9´s. That´s an easy 100J, from a barrel swap only. Lesson learned i guess...
Tried 38 grainers.. had some issues loading them up (single shot only) and.. yes. Just yes.

As some of you might remember the 22cal Reximex mags are really not tall enough to handle more "appreciable" pill weights. Nope, not even the 33.9 pellets.
On the Throne of mine i handled that by widening the mag cutout on the receiver to take the deeper, dead ringer, Kral mags.
But?
For this Zone? It´s a simpler gun after all, no matter how we regard it. Well. The mag lids are on a 2mm thickness so.. removed the lid on the one and indexed that on the lathe and let it rip.
Removed 1.5mm worth and lo n behold.. Now i can even have her digest at least 38 grainers right off.. (couldn´t find my 40´s..but suspect them will fit as well).

I´d chalk this up as both a learning curve, a STEEP one, and a success. This little semi cheap Reximex is now tossing lead downrange inxs of 100J and does so all day if asked to.
This without really getting into "the little things", which i suspect will build on that number still.

Which raises the real question really, will it stay such? Getting it to perform as it does is one thing, but is it usable and is it needed?
In my case answer to both of them is no.
Pesting as explained many a time and there´s nothing a 100+ 22cal PCP will do for me on that count that a 70J 22cal won´t do.
Will i in other words tune it down?
As time pass... i presume i will. No matter how i regard it tank/bottle volume on this one is limited, no matter the added 140+cc´s from the plenum. Due that it might very well be a good idea to tame it slightly and let her work to the best of her abilitys in terms of accuracy arrived upon instead.

As is though going to spend a little time with the piece as it is, seeing if there´s minute changes that will add to the picture. That BEFORE bringing output of her down.

Happy?
Very actually.

[chutesnreloads]

I think I understand most of what you're doing but even so, your posts are fascinating. Even understanding a little helps understand how my toys work and how to get the most from them. Please keep it up

[Racing]

Thx and sure will.

I truly appreciate that the entire concept of using high pressure air is kind of foreign to the newcomer that has a past using powder.
Was for me, i´ll tell ya that.

I guess what i´m saying is that this here using HPA takes a somewhat different approach and it IS more involved from a tech standpoint.
At the same time, it is also coming. Rest assured.

Reximex here for instance just released their latest mind boggle and it´s that their "premium" gun, the Meta, is now offered with a 90cc plenum.
FX in turn has turned that dial up REAL high seeing the largest plenum offered for the new Panthera, which i believe is on approx 170cc´s.
No matter, it comes down to a couple of things.. For better for worse regulated air guns are here to stay. There´s no two ways about that and what´s more power output of these regulated guns is climbing.. climbing.. climbing, and then some.

Of course this will at some point reach the point of diminishing returns but for the time being the evolution going on of the PCP is just downright that. Mind boggling.

What´s state of the art this month is old new come next.

Guess that brings a question as far as us end users?
Is the average PCP a DIY gun? Both as far as repairs as mods as actually building them.
Well. As you point out there´s of course a learning curve to this too, that being settled though my reply to the above is a resounding yes.
Yes because all said and done it IS "only" about compressed air at the end of the day. Sure. Loads of this can be calculated for and me as an engineer of course i believe in that. But.. and that´s a MAJOR but.
Nowhere going around this is that needed really as what it takes for a given design is basically just common sense.

Which is the beauty of this.
Common sense and regular hand tools go a long way.

[Racing]

Btw.
On that note there with the 90cc plenum of the Meta (which will hopefully be available for the Throne and what not too down the line).
As a manufacturer even.. the 90cc´s are all good. A sound step in the right direction.
Ditto one option for the Meta is a 700mm barrel. Again a step in the right direction.

However.

What good will a 90cc plenum and a 700mm barrel do you when you at the most can shove like 26-28 grain pills in the mag reliably?

Me i´d like to attest that to growing pains. Cause a 90cc plenum on a 700mm barrel will, with ease, shove a 34-40 grain 22 pill well beyond 70fpe/100J.
Doing that using say a 25,4 Knock out? Kind of defeats the purpose doesn´t it as we´d be pushed to shove that pill super sonic, why it to a large degree would fall apart. The entire concept.
(Mind you. Reximex and Kral are under the same ownership. The mags for the two brands are absolute dead ringers for each other, just the Kral mag being 3mm deeper. Thus. All that´s needed is to revamp the Kral mags to work on the Reximex receivers and we´re home free.)

So yes. Loads of this is in its infancy still to a degree where even mans need to step their game up. No doubt about it.

Hatsan is trying to regain customers confidence by launching a set of "sniper" models. Again.. What Hatsan primarly need to do, IMO, is get their act together and appreciate that there HAS to be a decent after sales.
ESPECIALLY so seeing all the issues they´re bothered with. As long as that isn´t there the ONLY thing they´re doing to the brand long term is diggin a hole.